Beijing Olympics thought 9: A few good men
For each of the 88 days until the 2008 Olympics, I will strip-mine my brain to unearth a thought related to Beijing and The Games. That’s one thought per brain cell. It’s called teamwork, people!
A few good men
One joy of living in Beijing is listening to foreign women spend hour after hour talking about the always cheery topic: “There are no good men in this city.” This topic is especially delightful when you, as a man, are out with one of them, a woman, on a date. And when during that date, you must avoid direct eye contact with any local woman, including members of the wait staff, to prevent your dining companion from accusing you of having a “fever” for the lasses of China. Really, it’s more fun than it sounds, almost as enjoyable as eyeball acupuncture or reading a year’s worth of “Hard Candy” columns in that’s Beijing.
Frankly, I have heard rumors that there are many good men in this city, but that they have special radar that allows them to avoid women who constantly generalize about an entire gender.
However, ladies, good news is just two months around the corner. With the Olympics, thousands of males will flow into the city, the vast majority of them completely radar-less. It’ll kind of be like that “raining men” song. And that’s good. Well, Unless these guys are too short or too fat or too old or too lazy or whatever…
Previously
Thought 1: If they build it, we may come
Thought 2: “Whether or not” in Sanlitun
Thought 3: Living the lowlife on Lotus Lane
Thought 4: The F&B scene takes a pre-Olympics breather?
Thought 5: Flaming Fuwa
Thought 6: Continental drink
Thought 7: The Parallel Bars?
Thought 8: No kangaroos, and other guidelines
3 Comments so far
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Maybe you hang out with dumb women–though you are not owning up to the obvious, which combined with your preferred company, doesn’t bode well for your own respectability. There are at least five million men in Beijing, and the idea that their numbers will increase significantly during the olympics shows that what you really mean is “white”–or at the least, “foreign”– when you say men, which is an unforgivable slip. I am not sorry for you that you feel like you can’t check out Chinese women at bars. Find new company; educate yourself.
Sandra,
I’ll inform the women with whom I hang out, two of whom thought the post was funny, that they may be dumb. Maybe you could help ‘educate’ us, and, in exchange, we could help you gain a sense of humor and lose the tendency to simultaneously make assumptions and be self-righteous:
“There are at least five million men in Beijing, and the idea that their numbers will increase significantly during the olympics shows that what you really mean is “white”–or at the least, “foreign”– when you say men, which is an unforgivable slip.”
I guess what *you* really mean is “white” or “foreign.” Did you ever consider Chinese men who don’t reside in Beijing might attend the Olympics?
Cheers, Boyce
ha ha!
i think this is a universal problem for us women… the men are never good enough.. not just in beijing… here in india too! Well written and it made me laugh!